Aarogya Setu likely to become mandatory for air travel post-lockdown

The Aarogya Setu application might soon become the key permit for travel in India. As the country is gearing up to ease lockdown restrictions, which will be in place after May 17, the Indian Government is also looking into aspects that could facilitate interstate travel.

Meanwhile, railways have already made it mandatory for passengers to have this Aarogya Setu app installed on their phones. And now as per the latest news reports, the government will most likely make it mandatory for people to have the said app installed on their phones if they want to take a flight post-lockdown. Government officials in the know-how stated that preliminary discussions regarding making the app mandatory for flight passengers have also been done with the airlines.
Reportedly, if the Aviation Ministry gives its nod to this proposal, passengers will be required to have this app in a completely functional mode on their smartphones before being allowed to travel.

Further, to get e-passes for interstate travel and movement, Aarogya Setu app might be used for self-certification, government sources said. It is believed that once the lockdown ends in individual states, a centralized e-pass might be issued after self-validation using the Aarogya Setu app. It is not yet clear if this will cover only certain modes of travel, or will include all types of personal travel.Strict legal provisions might come into picture, in case one is found to feed incorrect declarations on the app, which can even land the individual in jail, said government sources. Reportedly, the Government will have discussions with all stakeholders soon.

How does the Aarogya Setu app work?
The Aarogya Setu app will use your smartphone’s Bluetooth and location data to trace your movement. This will help it keep a check on the user, and alert them if they come in contact with a COVID-19 high-risk person. However, people have been a bit sceptical regarding this app, due to the app having access to so much sensitive data. However, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant in an interview, told media personnel that the servers only keep the data of a safe user for 30 days, whereas data of users at high-risk are stored for 60 days.